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·@marcmarquez93: “Today I had a funny present from my team, a magnifying glass”.
The second official three-day pre-season test proved to be very productive for Marc Marquez, who today celebrated his 24th birthday, and for teammate Dani Pedrosa. Both riders were able to keep a very strong pace throughout the day and concluded the test in second and third positions, respectively, in the combined times.
On another fair day blessed with sunny conditions, the Repsol Honda riders wasted no time in taking to the track at 9:45 a.m. in order to take advantage of a 15 minute practice-start window that was implemented at the beginning of day. After that they continued to work positively on their RC213V setup and on engine mapping, in addition to testing the new tyre specs that Michelin brought to this test.
Marc Márquez
“I’m very happy with how it went today because we improved a lot, especially in the afternoon, even if I did my best lap time in the morning. In the end I felt much more comfortable and it seems that yesterday’s long runs were useful for improving the electronics and getting closer to the level we wanted to reach. Overall, I think it has been three very positive days, and we did a good job. Of course we shouldn’t forget that this circuit is quite particular, and in Qatar we’ll see where we really are. Today I had a funny present from my team, a magnifying glass; I know I’m quite persistent in asking to check the data to find the issues we had, and they told me to find it myself! I’m very thankful that HRC is putting in a lot of effort, and step-by-step we’re getting better. I’d like to wish all the best to my Crew Chief Santi [Hernandez], who wasn’t able to be here at Philip Island because of some medical checks. We all missed him and we’re looking forward to seeing him with us again at the next test!”
Dani Pedrosa
“Overall I think it’s been a very positive test, especially considering that this isn’t one of my favourite tracks. I was riding quite well and I think we improved day by day. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling well but today I felt a bit better and we were able to do a good job on the track. The team has worked very well. We focused again on electronics and on the setup of the bike, and the only thing we missed was a long run, as we ran out of time. Michelin have also made some good steps forward with the tyres. All in all, we can say we’re heading in the right direction, even if we still have some work to do.”